I Can Only Imagine Page #6

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Tonight we're gonna talk

about forgiveness.

So find a blank page in your journal,

and I want you to write these words...

"God, tonight I choose to forgive,"

and I want you to finish that sentence.

Now, you may say to me,

"You don't know how hard it is for me

to forgive this person.

You don't know what they've done to me."

And I'd say, "I know it's hard.

But if you have been forgiven by God,

then he gives you the power

to forgive others."

Better late than never.

I'll get the door.

We got a special treat

for you this morning.

Any of y'all heard the story

of John Newton?

He was a sea captain.

Slave trader.

He was tormented and racked

with guilt and shame.

Well, he found for forgiveness.

He found Christ.

He wrote a little song about that

called "Amazing Grace."

That song touched the world.

Hey.

What?

I figured out why you like junk.

What?

Why you like to fix things.

Why you...

you make something

out of nothing all the time.

They got a word for that.

What's that word?

It's "redemption."

Redemption.

Yeah. Hey.

What is... what is this note here?

Right there.

What is that note?

G.

Yeah.

What's that note?

C.

C, all right.

G to C.

You got some competition now, boy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Bart Millard!

You gotta hold still, Dad.

Oh, sorry.

It's okay.

Oh, I wanted to be there.

That's all right, Dad.

Ahh.

Hey, there's Shannon.

Boy, you better hang onto that girl.

Don't you ever let her get away.

Dad, we're not... we're not dating anymore.

What? What?

What'd you do?

You two are meant for each other.

Whatever you did,

even if you don't know what you did,

you're wrong.

Did I ever tell you how I met your mom?

Tell me.

Hey, this is Shannon.

Leave a message.

Hey, Shannon.

I don't know if you're getting

these messages or not,

but I just wanted you to know

that I'm... I'm back home,

and I'm... I'm journaling again.

I'm writing a lot like we did

when we were kids.

It feels really good.

I love you, boy.

I was listening, Bart.

I was listening to you.

On the radio.

'Cause you'd sing...

and I'd listen to every word.

And then...

you'd finish.

And then I'd listen to what they were

talking about there at church.

That's what saved me.

I was real proud of you.

Was real proud.

I told you not to follow your dreams.

But that's only because mine,

they never came true.

But you're not me.

You're not like me.

Unh-unh.

And you, you have a gift.

A real gift.

I wanna take care of you, Bart.

I got something for you, Bart.

Here.

I want, uh...

I never made much money.

But I have my life insurance.

And I... I tried to save

everything I could.

And I want you to have that...

so you can pay attention to your singing.

And you'll get a check every month

so you can go chase your dream.

And I want you to catch it.

Hmm?

Don't you ever look back.

You promise?

I promise.

Will you sing a song, son?

I'm sleepy.

Sing.

Amazing grace

How sweet

The sound

That saved

A wretch

Like me

I once

Was lost

But now

I'm found

Was blind

But now

I see

When we've

Been there

Ten thousand years

Bright shining as

The sun

We've no

Less days

To sing

God's praise

Than when

We first

Begun

Imagine what he's seeing up there, Bart.

Just imagine.

Welcome back, man.

Thanks, man.

Yeah.

Where we going?

West. Couple gigs in New Mexico.

Okay, God.

Okay.

Thank you! Thank you.

It's good to be back.

Man, I, uh...

I haven't been on stage

since I lost my dad.

And, uh, I'm learning to deal with it.

And I deal with it

the only way I know how,

and that's to write a song.

And I'm gonna...

Well, I'm gonna sing it for you now.

This is called "I Can Only Imagine."

That kid wrote this?

Yeah, he did.

Wow.

I know.

I can't stop listening to it.

I'm gonna start pitching it around town.

I know who you need to send it to.

Phone!

Jim, get it. You're right there.

Phone!

Seriously?

Phone!! No, man, I got it.

It's cool. No, I got it.

You look really...

No, I got it! Let it go, let it...

Okay, thanks, man, appreciate it.

Hello?

Who is this?

Sure. Yeah, hold on.

Let me get him.

Bart, phone's for you.

Bart!

Hello?

Yeah, right.

Good one, guys, Real good joke.

Whose idea was that? Amy Grant.

Uh, that... that was her, man.

That... that was Amy Grant

you hung up on.

Are you serious? Give me the phone!

Yeah, that happened.

Any? Hello? Hello?

Actual Amy Grant?

Jim, how do I re-dial?

It's a rotary phone, Bart.

There's gotta be a way to redial.

Call her back.

How do I get in...

Hey, Amy.

Bart... you didn't write

this song in ten minutes.

It took a lifetime.

Scott gave me a Imagine when I was

dealing with a friend losing a battle,

you know?

And it got me through.

I couldn't stop listening.

I mean, it's a career-maker.

And I know some songs

can be real personal.

Is this what you really want?

You know,

I've never told anybody my story.

My dad was a monster.

I mean, that's the only word for it.

And I saw God transform him

from a man that I hated

into the man I wanted to become...

into my best friend.

And I didn't realize it soon enough.

I guess that I didn't think

that God could do that.

And so I wrote this song.

And I want as many people

as possible to hear it.

And you can do that.

I can't.

So...

yes.

This is what I want.

So, Brick, you know us.

We lay our cards on the table.

Amy needs a comeback song.

We believe this is it.

Amy is doing a homecoming date

here in Nashville

to kick off a fall tour.

We'd like to showcase it there.

Hey, this is Shannon.

Leave a message.

Hey, Shannon, um...

I just wanted to call you

and let you know,

uh, I wrote a new song.

It feels different than anything

I've written before.

Um... I think it might be...

might be something special.

Um...

Shannon, I'm sorry I hurt you.

I know I hurt you over and over

and over again,

and I... I'm sorry.

I just...

It had nothing to do with you.

It never did.

It had nothing to do with you.

I just...

I'm sorry I hurt you.

Hello?

Beautiful, isn't it?

I can't think of a better place

to unveil "Imagine."

I hope I can do it justice.

It's gonna be something.

Mm-hmm.

When do you record it?

Soon.

Just gotta find that sound.

I've listened to your tape 1,000 times.

Well, thank you.

Is there anything you want me to say

after I sing it?

Tell 'em I wrote it for my dad.

Be with me now

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

Did you send one to DJC

in Birmingham?

Okay, bribe him with chocolate.

Actually, Snickers bars,

he loves 'em, okay?

Yeah. I got it.

And you put on there

"From the writers of

'I Can Only Imagine'."

Yeah, yeah, I've got 'em. 200 copies.

Okay, good.

Hey, uh, delivery truck just got here.

So I'll load 'em up.

All right, good. Okay.

Breath of heaven

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

This next song is really

something special.

See, I found a song

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